President Joe Biden’s decision to abandon his reelection bid and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris means that Harris could soon become the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party’s biggest priorities — including abortion rights, climate change and student debt relief.
Her track record as a California attorney general, a U.S. senator and Biden’s No. 2 provides only so many clues about how she might lead.
The former prosecutor often struggled to carve out a niche between centrists and skeptical progressives during her brief presidential run five years ago, proposing a multitrillion-dollar climate agenda and endorsing Bernie Sanders’ free-college plan but drawing criticism for what detractors labeled an unambitious student debt blueprint. She’s notably more comfortable than Biden in championing reproductive rights, and was earlier than he was to express skepticism on trade deals.